Pneumatic ironing and peening tool



Jan. 14, 1964 A. ANDERS 3,117,475

PNEUMATIC IRONING AND PEENING TooL Filed Feb. 23, 1962 lill UNH l V 4iMil INVENTOR, 0 ,4L BERT ANDERS,

g BY 52 75,2% 9* l ,f

FIG. 5. 7Z1 ATTORNEY United States atetit vliice llhdii Piented aan. is,tasa The present invention relates to a pneumatic ironing and peeningtool for metal work. The invention contemplates a tool which maybe heldin the palm of the hand and which may be manipulated so as to iron orpeen metal in what may generally be considered as an inaccessiblelocation. As an example, I may mention the metal wing of an airplane. Ifa section such as a panel of the metal wing should become damaged, itfisgenerally required that the damaged section be entirely removed from thewing structure in order to repair the same. With the present invention,it is generally possible to Vremove an inspection window in the wingstructure and place the arm therein,vthe hand carrying the tool of thepresent invention and to repair the damaged area without the necessityof removing the panel. In speaking of damaged areas, I have reference tostructures which have been damaged by falling objects or by the airplanewing striking some object which damages'the wing covering.

The device of the invention, by being compact, may be used where theordinary peening tool or metal shaping and ironing tool cannot be used.

An object of the invention is to provide a compact ironing and kpeeningtool which is pneumatically operated and in which the tool is so formedas to provide portions acting as an ironing and shaping tool.

A'further object is the provision of an ironing and peening tool formetal work which is easily assembled or repaired, efficient inoperation, which will perform work with dispatch, easily manipulated andgenerally superior to devices now known to the inventor.

With the above mentioned and other objects in View, including simplicityof structure, inexpensiveness in cost of manufacture, and generaleiliciency, the invention consists in the novel and useful provision,formation, construction, assoclation, and relative arrangement of parts,members and features, all as shown in one embodiment in the accompanyingdrawing, described generally, and more particularly pointed out in theclaims.

ln the drawing:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary, partially sectional front elevation of thedevice or the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a 'Eragnlentary sectional view on the line 2 2 of FIGURE 2,and showing the device of the invention engaging work;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, sectional view similar to that of FIGURE 2,certain of the parts being in moved relationship from that of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view on the line 4 4. of FIGURE 2;and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, sectional View, on an enlarged scale, andillustrative of the spacing between certain elements ofthe invention.v

The invention includes a substantially cylindrical -mernber I having aclosed end 2 of convex form to provide a shaping or ironing head, theopposite end olf the casing being open. In this particular, the interiorof the housing or casing from the open end is provided with a series ofspaced annularly arranged eccentric bores designated generally as 3, thehores terminating inward of the head 2 and likewise provided with anenlarged axial bore 4 having one end terminating inward from the head 2and functioning as a cylinder. The casing or housing is provided with aconcentric annular groove 5 which extends inwardly from the open end ofthe casing or housing and transversely cuts the eccentric series ofbores 3, see FIG- URE 4. By this construction the wall 6' bounding thecylinder is of lesser depth than the outer cylindrical wall 7 of thecasing or housing. The open end of the casing orhousing receives a cap 8the inner Wall of the cap having two stepped annular portions 9 and l0,the portion l'adap-te'd to be received within the confines ofthe'lannular'groove 5 while the portion 9, provided with awashelr11,`abuts the end of the wall 7 of the casing lor housing. d Screws l2`are countersunk in the cap and vreceiyed inthra-ded bores in the casingor housing for holding-th'ecap and housing in working relationship asshown in`FIGU-RES 2 and 4.

n Within the cylinder' l is a piston 13. The head 14 of thepist'o-nisprovided with a circular recess l5 and the end lo of the piston isprovided with an axial bore I7 Ithu'sprovidin'g apiston skinting i711.

Apeening too-l or hammer I8 is received within the borel 17 of thepiston. The peening tool includes an elongated cylindrical memberprovided with a rusto conical end`19' and'having longitudinaldiametrically arranged -flat sides 20 and 2l. The shaping and ironinghead 2. istormed with a central bore 22. which receives the peenin'gtool orhammer and the cylinder head is centrally provided with anannular flange 23 the bore offwhich is the same diameter as the bore` 22and provides afu'rther bearing surface `for the peening tool or hammer.The peening tool or ham-mer is provided with a two flanged head,designated as 214 and 25. The flan-ge 24 is adapted to t within acircular groove 26 of the piston. A coil spring 27 surrounds the peeningtool or hammer and extends between the flanged head and the annularflange 23 for constantly'ur'gin-g the peening -tool inwardly of the head2".

It is intended that the bore 212. and the bore of the annular liange 2.3have llattened or breached areas for cooperation with the llattenedsides 20 and 2l of the peenin'g tool or hammer to prevent rotationthereof when the hammer is reciprocated within said bores.

The piston -skirting 17a is provided with a circumferential groove 28adapted to receive an @ning 29. This Grin-g hears against the cylinderwall. As shown in FIGURE 5 there is a slight spacing between theperiphery of the piston and the cylinder wall of approximately .0025.

'The peening tool or hammer :I8` through the medium of `Ithe piston ispneumaticaliy operated. Thus, referring to FIGURE l, I have provided avalve Sil' which includes a housing 3l formed with a screw threadedtapered bore 32 for connection with a threaded nipple 33, the nipplebeing connected to a hose 34 leading to a source of compressed air. Adouble screw threaded iltting 3S connects to an extension 35 of thehousing 3l and likewise with .the interior of the casing or housing 1,see FIG- URES 2 and 4. The interior of the valve housing is chambered at37 and within the chamber is a valve head 38. The valve head mechanismincludes a stem 39 having' a head tithe arrangement being such that whenthe head 4t? is pressed upon 1oy the linger to move the stem inwardly,the valve dl. unseats under opposing spr-ing pressure by spring 42 andallows air under pressure directed through the hose 34 to pass through.the chamber 37 and through coupling 35 into the casing or housing 1.When the valve head 38 closes, pressure air which has-moved the pistonis bled through the valve housing and relieves pressure from the piston.I lay no claim to any particular valve structure for directing air underpressureinto the housing l and the particular valve shown isillustrative only.

The operation, uses and advantages of my invention are as follows.

First, I wish to point out that the casing or housing l as el orironiriig 1tool diie to the hat or plane outersurface of the cati S,- thcoiveiieuiae and t; e @funniest wan 7. Hence, it is witthe purview et'nryinvcnlti'cii to' turn the tool so that r ese s'itr'ia'ces'tjebro'ught against work lwheii necessary. Iii IGS 2 d 3 l havcshowiithe convert surface i' in engage; L witlixsiieet iiietal:59 whichrequires rfnofiiiig or' shaping. Agaitist one surface of the sheet metalI have placed Aa Itoolhlwhich be an nv'i-i; a a lr'amrrir or othershaping tool: iii the present insta c' par? ticular tcolvhas a coni/'exsurface Wheii the head 4? presiede-saisir' by the segr er me n ne, theessie seasoning @aangaf nous ng tr sans diere'- ol with the convexsurface 2 pressed against the? dd, opening the valve di to admitcompressed air will move the piston 'and direct the peening tool orhammer outwardly ci" the bore i9 against the work Si?. In this respectit is to be observed that pressui air lenters the annular groove S and'likewise the eccentric botes te? accommodate a large volume of pressureair. The pistori head is within a central circular recess et) of thecap. Thus pressure air due to close tolerance er the pis-ton lor lcess60 of the cap Will he di- Wall the periphery of the l stric'ted spacingtherebetween, as shown yin FIU The o prevents the pressure an from pasL. y the eyitndef streed et die piston. Seiisequ'en'tlm the piston will'start te inve slowly, and tfiif. siow is purely relative, as the stortwill move within a fractibli l a 'scoid when the air' pressure is fourto five hundred psi. to nioi'e tli piston head beyond the circularrecess 'dil of the cap.- Before latter decors, considerabie pressure hasbuilt up within the' casing housing t he result that when the pistonhead is eitposzeii, the pist ill n te enter o h is iii'ved underconsiderable' pressure te denver SuedenI striking slew sy Vdie hammer orpeesing tool i8 against the woi'l: Sil; The character of the peeningtool or hammer is such as topforin what may be termed as a dim-ple inthe work, as sliowii at 70. Quite obviously, if the end 'of the peening`tool or 'hainr is relatively pointed, the character of the limpie ischanged. When the iinger releases the valve stem 39', air under'pressure to the tool is closed and the piston retracts with-V in thecylinder, being retracted by the spring 27. The action of the peeningtool or hammer will depend, therefore, upon the rapidity with which thehead 40 is actuated by the finger. By holding 4the convex surface 2against the worn, the deformed portion of the work can rapidly heindentated or dimpled by the hammer or peening tool while the' convexsurface 2 shapes the work.

A iinal smoothing of the work can be accomplished by rneans of anyabrasive element such as by using a lile. Thus to return to the shapingof a Wing panel of an airplane, the -tool may be inserted through aninspection window within the wing structure with the convex suriface 2bearing against the damaged area while a second shaping tool or iron maybe applied to the external surface. Upon actuation of the hammer orpeening tool a ;series of indentations or dimples are made in the Workwhich will straighten the damaged area and resto-re it to its originalconliguration or form. Such an operation :saves the removing oi rivetsand the complete removal of a panel of wing covering which is usually ofduraluminum. Thus an expensive operation is unnecessary which at best istime consuming. It will probably be realized that the average tool `forshaping and ironing sheet metal is large and bulky and usually has twoparts connected together by some form of bracket which does not lendready adaptability of the tool for an ironing operation of sheet metalon the job. With my invention, the tool yis manipulated by the hand andheld the palm of the hand. The hand and arm are more sensitive in thefinding of the location to he ironed than are large tools, and as aconsequence, I am able to sha-pe and iron sheet metal in variousdiiicult zones of accessibility not possible of accompiislfifnent withshaping and ironing tools now kno-wn to Easy accessibility to theworking parts o the tool are afforded by removing the screws 12 torclease the cap S iront the casing or housing whereupon the cyiinder andthe piston may be removed and other parts inspected such as the peeningtool or hammer. Ref assembly is equally' easy of accomplishment.

The ebores/,3 in conjunction with communicating groove`A 5 accomrtdaesan enlarged volume of pressure air and assures that the piston willdrive the peening tool or i3 against work under high pressure.Furthermore the ingement of the :hores '3 reduces tool weight whiie notdctraciilig from its strength. As a result, worker fatigue yis not afactor? I claim:

l.- An ironing and peening -tool for sheet metal including shaping toolcapable of being carried in the hand ot an operator' fermanually-controlled pressure against the sheet metal, including: acylindrical casing, one end of which is provided with a convex surfaceto act as a shaping and ironing head, said cylindrical casing providedwith an axiai cylinder yhaving a closed end adjacent the convex head andad open end, the cylindrical casing formed with a circular recessconcentric with the cylinder at the open end of the cylinder, a capsecured to the cylindrical casing and closing the open end of thecylinder and the circular recess, a piston within the cylinder, thepiston having a head and the cap being provided with circular recess toreceive with close tolerance a portion of piston head, the pistonlformed with a skirting to provide a central core therein and facing theclosed end of the cylinder, the external diameter of said skirt-ingbeing less than the internal diameter of the cylinder to pro-` vide arestricted spacing therebetween, there being an external annular grooveon said skirti-ng and an O-ring positioned in the annular groove forcontact with the cylinder, the shaping and ironing head of thecylindrical casing provided -Wi-th a central bore, a peening hammerslidably cornned in part within said central bore and the central boreof the piston and spring pressed against ythe lpiston head, means foradmitting fluid under pressure into the circular recess of thecylindrical casing and the restricted spacing between the skirting andthe cylinder to exert pressure on the O-ring and move the pistonoutwardly from the circular recess of the cap to expose the piston headto full air pressure to drive thc piston lhead forwardly and the peeningtool through the ccntral bore of the shaping and ironing head.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that thecylindrical casing is internally provided with an annular series ofspaced eccentric bores, all of which communicate with the circularrecess of :the cylinder casing.

References Cited in the lc of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 1,934,979Hopkins Nov. 14, 1933 2,148,943 Hauschild Feb. 28, 1939 2,346,532 BormApr. 11, 1944 2,483,626 Daku Oct. 4, 1949 2,490,254 Casazza Dec. 6, 19492,594,522 Thompson Apr. 29, 1952 2,664,773 Cain Jan. 5, 1954 2,747,444Shepherd May 29, 19564 2,783,814 Hutchins Mar. 5,V 1957 2,823,646 BrownFeb. 18, 1958

1. AN IRONING AND PEENING TOOL FOR SHEET METAL INCLUDING A SHAPING TOOLCAPABLE OF BEING CARRIED IN THE HAND OF AN OPERATOR FORMANUALLY-CONTROLLED PRESSURE AGAINST THE SHEET METAL, INCLUDING: ACYLINDRICAL CASING ONE END OF WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A CONVEX SURFACE TOACT AS A SHAPING AND IRONING HEAD, SAID CYLINDRICAL CASING PROVIDED WITHAN AXIAL CYLINDER HAVING A CLOSED END ADJACENT THE CONVEX HEAD AND ANOPEN END, THE CYLINDRICAL CASING FORMED WITH A CIRCULAR RECESSCONCENTRIC WITH THE CYLINDER AT THE OPEN END OF THE CYLINDER, A CAPSECURED TO THE CYLINDRICAL CASING AND CLOSING THE OPEN END OF THECYLINDER AND THE CIRCULAR RECESS, A PISTON WITHIN THE CYLINDER, THEPISTON HAVING A HEAD AND THE CAP BEING PROVIDED WITH A CIRCULAR RECESSTO RECEIVE WITH CLOSE TOLERANCE A PORTION OF THE PISTON HEAD, THE PISTONFORMED WITH A SKIRTING TO PROVIDE A CENTRAL BORE THEREIN AND FACING THECLOSED END OF THE CYLINDER, THE EXTERNAL DIAMETER OF SAID SKIRTING BEINGLESS THAN THE INTERNAL DIAMETER OF THE CYLINDER TO PROVIDE A RESTRICTEDSPACING THEREBETWEEN, THERE BEING AN EXTERNAL ANNULAR GROOVE ON SAIDSKIRTING AND AN O-RING POSITIONED IN THE ANNULAR GROOVE FOR CONTACT WITHTHE